The Pawns, the Knights, and the Queen and King
by daggers0
Summary: “We are all but pieces in his game, no one knows their true role. But whether I’m a pawn, a rook, a knight, or even a queen, I will always be sacrificed for the King. Now tell me why I should return to a game in which I will have to sacrifice myself for a
1. Chapter 1

The Pawns, the Rooks, the Knights, and the Queen and King

Summary: "We are all but pieces in his game, no one knows their true role. But whether I'm a pawn, a rook, a knight, or even a queen, I will always be sacrificed for the King. Now tell me why I should return to a game in which I will have to sacrifice myself for another, with no gain of my own?" "Simple." He smirked. "Just because he set up the game, doesn't mean the players always follow."

Chapter One: Another Life

_Miss Hermione Granger,_

_We cordially invite you to the ten year reunion of your graduating class here at Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft this Saturday, August 13th at noon. We look forward to seeing you._

_Your Headmaster,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

_P.S. I sincerely hope that you will come._

Like hell I'm going to go, Hermione thought, as she tore the paper into little bits and threw it into the trash can as she walked towards her large bedroom. Sighing, she slipped out of her white blouse and black knee length skirt, and into a silk, red night dress. The night dress had a low v-neck and barely reached her knees. The dress was backless and was held by a thin strap over her shoulder. Despite how revealing it was, it had a certain sophistication that Hermione liked. Throwing her clothes on the ground, she took the clip out of her hair and shook out her strict bun. Ahh, finally, she thought as she freed her hair. Walking towards the large, burgundy bed, she threw herself on it and sighed in content. Closing her eyes, she drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

Rrring! Rrring! Rrring!

What the fuck?! She thought as she struggled to get up from bed. Looking at the clock on her nightstand; she saw that it was but three in the morning. Groggily she smacked the speaker phone button and said, "What?" harshly.

"Morning Meia," a sweet sing-song voice answered. "You would never guess what happened today my dear."

"Pray tell _what_ could be so important that you must wake me up at this ungodly hour Leila?" Hermione sighed, her annoyance quickly replaced by exhaustion. "And what are you made of? We've been up for the past week fixing the deal my younger brother made with Steller Tech, and here you are, _singing."_

"You would be to if you know what I know," she sang.

"Fine what is it? Don't keep me dying in suspense," she exasperated, rolling her eyes.

"The witch that screwed us over with the deal apparently tried to merge with Stellar Tech."

"What?!" Hermione yelled, quickly jumping out of the bed and grabbing the phone. "This is good news how?!" she asked infuriated.

"_Well_," her second in command friend sang again, annoying her.

"_Talk now_," Hermione said venomously.

"Stellar Tech agreed to merge with her only because the CEO apparently _merged_ himself to her, thus her getting the deal and which was why she was brazen enough to even suggest it in the first place. However, the board members found out, and threw the CEO into the streets, and now we got the deal. Contract was just signed by yours truly just now."

"Yes!" Hermione yelled into the phone happily. Weeks of work had finally paid off. Hadn't it been for her younger brother's screw up with the public with his affair with a married actress, they would have gotten the deal already but what's done was done. She wasn't mad at her brother, for the press hadn't gotten into the heart of the problem. The actress was being abused, and her brother fell for her and helped her. What made the deal a total screw up was the fact that that bitch Caridee Woods from Inner Inc. had butted in, and made the whole affair a scandal and got her company, Granger Corp, a bad image. After that, the bitch stole the three billion dollar contract with Stellar Tech, and had shoved it in her face. For the past week or so, she and Leila had worked their connections from left to right and right to left just to work up their image and to put out the best technology possible to prove to Stellar that they're company wasn't going downhill in the least.

"That's not the best part!" Leila screamed, stopping Hermione in mid-air. Hermione thought it sounded as if Leila's been waiting to give her this last bit of news since the beginning. "The best part is that Inner Inc, was affected by the scandal, which was blown up by, who else but me. In the process I kind of, maybe, probably, suggested to the press that they had some illegal transactions and false bookings."

"You what?!"

"Payback," Leila defended herself. "I was just bs-ing the press, how was I suppose to know that…dun dun dun…THEY ACTUALLY DID! INNER INC, YES THE COMPANY THAT HAS BEEN RUNNING HEAD TO HEAD WITH OURS FOR THE PAST FIVE YEARS IS CLOSING DOWNNNN!!!"

"…you're kidding right?" Hermione finally said after a brief silence, Leila was the best lying businesswomen she knows, and although she may be one of the few people who can discern her lies from truth, she wasn't sure with this one.

"No my friend," Leila sang again, "this is for real. Turn the news on."

Immediately, Hermione jumped out of bed only to be caught by her silk blanket and fall on her face. Scrambling to get up, she ran towards the large plasma and turned the television on, forgetting that the remote was but on her night stand. True to her word, the news were showing the arrest of the blonde, green eyed bitch, and several other major shareholders. What was best was that the news lady who as of today, Hermione thought was looking only more beautiful, despite the heavy make-up she usually criticized her for, quote and unquote, "Inner Inc. for the past five years had been neck to neck to Granger Corp. Apparently though, the only reason they were neck to neck were due to false listings and illegal dealings. Granger Corp, is once again the top technology producing company."

Can her day be any better? Hermione thought as she laughed at Caridee's state. Even then the bitch was still trying to fight off the policemen saying that it was all a mistake and that when she got out, she'd fire them all.

"What's wrong Albus?" McGonagall asked worriedly, as she saw how tired the great Albus Dumbledore was in stroking his phoenix.

"I sent the reunion invitations."

"….she trashed it didn't she?" she asked, as she sighed as well and sat down tiredly as well.

"I guess this old man doesn't deserve her forgiveness anyways," he sighed, shaking his head.

"Don't be like that Headmaster," a voice from the shadows called out as that person stepped away from the shadow of the room to reveal none other than the Harry Potter. "I'm sure Hermione will forgive you."

"Yes, and the stars will rain from the heavens," a wry voice said, stepping out from the shadows as well, revealing a silky, silver-blonde haired young man. "The man allowed her parents to die, used her as a petty pawn to get the boy blunder in shape, and merely discarded her at the end."

"Malfoy," McGonagall shrieked.

"No no, Minerva," Dumbledore sighed, "he's right, I did. I never thought of her feelings and although she completed her tasks, she is now the muggle-born prodigy witch hated by the entire wizarding world for supposedly, "allowing Voldemort to escape.""

"I'm sorry headmaster," Harry started again, "I was the one who did it, but Hermione took the blame and now –"

"What's done is done Potter," Malfoy sneered. "Let the girl be Dumbledore, quit pressuring her to return." He said coldly. "We are all but pawns in your little game and she's fulfilled her duty, let us complete ours so that we may be free as well."

Dumbledore then looked at Malfoy fully and waited a few moments before saying, "You really think that Miss Granger is no longer of use to us? She is one of the key players, and the game cannot continue without her, or any of you."

Humming to herself as she stepped out of the shower, she slipped into her bath robe, and made some coffee for herself, and set some raspberry tea for her second in command friend, Leila Grayheart. True to her last name, she saw everything in shades of gray. "There are always good things to bad things, and bad things to good things." She had repeatedly said it to Hermione ever since they first met in college, always reminding her of this little philosophy. Now, they were good friends, and Leila was a great business partner. Coming from a humble family, she handled everything with care and only invested in things she knew would make money. She had betted on Hermione that she would take her family business to a new level and indeed she had. Before Hermione took over the company at seventeen, the Granger Corporation was but a few million dollar establishment with but an overview of Britain and France. Now, the company had bases in both America and Japan, and is one of the major companies to put out high-tech products at low cost revenues and slightly high prices to their products. The name itself was trusted over the years, and Hermione couldn't be happier.

"Hermione!" she heard, followed by someone banging on her door.

Smiling, she went to open the door only to reveal a young woman her age with dark brown hair, darker than herself, and emerald eyes. Her hair was in a high ponytail that reached her shoulders, and she was wearing black square glasses. She wore black, baggy pants that reached her knees, a loose-fitting blue t-shirt that had the number 00, and one inch black high heels.

"Finally a break from the evil CEO," Leila laughed as she plopped herself down onto Hermione's black leather couch. Throwing her black leather purse to a side, she laid down on the couch and sighed.

"Hush unless you want me to take away your day off and send you to work again," Hermione kidded, as she made her way back to the living room with tea, coffee, and some lemon cakes she made herself. Unlike Hermione, she disliked coffee for its caffeine, and loved tea.

"Hey…" Leila said in a confused tone. "What's this?"

"What's wha-" Hermione stopped dead in mid-sentence. She saw Leila reading the letter from she received last night. What? She thought, I ripped it to shreds and threw it in the trash! How'd it—

Before she can repeat her thoughts, she heard two soft popping sounds behind her, and evidently so did Leila as she quickly turned around to look towards Hermione, who now had a two pairs of hands over her mouth and another pair on her waist.

Moving with speed Hermione hadn't known she possessed after all these years, she grabbed her hand yelling, "Hey!"

Before she knew it, she was no longer in her room and felt her apparating with her two uninvited guest. Before her surroundings changed, she saw that her friend too was being apparated along with her.

Oh dear, Hermione thought, this can't be good. She knew that it was probably Dumbledore's people who kidnapped her, but having a muggle friend along for the ride definitely won't be good. They'll have to put a memory charm on her, and God's knows what that'll do to her brain if done wrong. Silently, she cursed whoever was kidnapping her, and how careless they are.

a/n abrupt I know, but I'm planning to speed things up, so they needed to be kidnapped now. Further explanations as to what happened, and why Hermione left the wizarding world in next two chapters. There'll be an interesting turn, I promise. ;)


	2. Chapter 2

The Pawns, the Rooks, the Knights, and the Queen and King

Summary: "We are all but pieces in his game; no one knows their true role. But whether I'm a pawn, a rook, a knight, or even a queen, I will always be sacrificed for the King. Now tell me why I should return to a game in which I will have to sacrifice myself for another, with no gain of my own?" "Simple." He smirked. "Just because he set up the game, doesn't mean the players always follow."

Chapter Two: The Start of the Plan

"Surprise!" two voices yelled, "Wait, who the hell are you?" the two yelled finally seeing Leila. Hermione felt the hands on her mouth and waist disappears. Unfortunately for the two, she didn't exactly felt the same sentiments, and elbowed one of her attackers hard in the stomach. Leila then punched the other, and Hermione could hear two loud thuds as the bodies hit the floor groaning.

Turning around, she raised an eyebrow, surprised to see none other than the two red-headed twins, Fred and George Weasley. The two were groaning and looking back up to her, shocked.

"Interesting," a cold voice said from behind her. "So Granger knows how to fight." He sneered.

"Of course," Hermione smiled innocently, as she turned around. "Don't you remember _Malfoy_, the slap I gave you in third year? Perhaps I should remind you by giving you another one." She sneered. She noticed that he was still good-looking after all these years, better even. His silver-blonde hair had grown a bit, and he is taller and toner then when she last saw him as well.

Draco watched how her eyes trailed his body, and smirked, "I see you're not looking too bad either Granger." Although he said it mockingly, he had to admit that it was the truth. She was still shorter than him, but her body has developed well, and he allowed himself to take in her body and her somewhat large bust. Sure, much was left to the imagination from her bathrobe, but it was more than enough to show her figure.

"Sorry to break up the reunion and all," Leila cut in, "but where the hell are we?"

It was then that Draco noticed the unknown girl. Shit, he thought, those Weasley twins screwed up and brought a Muggle here?! He quickly drew his wand, but then felt something cold against his forehead and stopped.

Hermione was holding a silver gun to his forehead, and was more than ready to pull the trigger. "Stop Malfoy," she whispered deadly. "This is a gun, and if you move another inch I will pull this trigger. A bullet will then come out of my gun and straight into your forehead, through your skull, and out of the back of your head. Is that clear?"

"Are you mad?" Draco yelled at her. He may not know much of Muggles, but he's seen a gun at work before. "There's a muggle here!"

"And you kidnapped me!" Hermione said calmly, "now, if you will just quietly move out of the way and point me in the right direction out of here, I promise I won't hurt you."

"And if I don't?" he said cockily. "You mean to shoot me Granger?"

"You have no idea don't you?" she whispered into his ear. "You think I won't shoot you?"

"I _know_ you won't shoot me," he smirked.

"I suppose another life on my hands won't really matter would it?" She smiled at him, as she slowly made her finger curl to pull the trigger. She smirked inwardly as she watched Malfoy pale.

"Miss Granger," a too familiar voice called from behind Malfoy. "If you will please, remove the gun from Mr. Malfoy's head."

"Of course," she smiled sweetly, "I'll just point the gun at you." Hermione moved back and aimed towards Dumbledore standing behind Malfoy. Malfoy however, refused to move and got within her aim, but Dumbledore patted his shoulder and nodded, pushing him aside.

"Miss Granger," Dumbledore started. "I apologize, again for the past, and for the situation in which we have to see each other again."

"Cut the crap Dumbledore," Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Now isn't the best time to talk of this old man," Draco cut in, and nodded towards Leila. "A muggle is here."

"Move Dumbledore," Hermione commanded, "and my friend and I will just leave."

"I don't think that's an option Miss Granger," Dumbledore shook his head, as he looked at Leila to Hermione. The girl looks oddly familiar, he thought silently to himself, as he shook himself of the unwanted image.

Before Hermione could reply, Malfoy immediately called out, "Expelliarmas." Hermione's gun immediately flew away from her, and Dumbledore raised his wand as well.

"Petrificus totalus," he said, pointing at Hermione, and "stupefy," at Leila. Hermione dodged the spell easily, but was unable to warn or save Leila from the spell.

"Impedimenta!" Leila yelled, as a wand suddenly appeared in her hand, surprising everyone in the room. The spell hit Dumbledore square in the chest, causing him to fall backwards. Hermione stared at her friend, and was for the first time scared of her. In all the years she had known Leila, she had never seen such anger and hatred in her eyes. Hermione didn't know what to do. It looked as if Leila wanted to kill him!

"Stupefy!" Draco yelled, as he aimed the wand at her. He was the first to recover, and Hermione was snapped out of her daze.

Hermione watched as she easily dodged, and sent a stunning spell of her own at Malfoy who was forced to dodge. "Leila! What are you doing?"

"What does it look like?!" she yelled, as she continued to approach the fallen old man. "I'm getting us out of here!"

"Stop!" another voice yelled out through the doorway. "Stupefy!" this spell took Leila on by surprise and was thrown to the wall near Hermione with the force of it. Hermione immediately rushed to her, and saw that she was knocked unconscious from her head hitting the wall.

"Hermione, get away from that Death Eater!" the voice said.

Hermione turned around to see none other than Harry cradling the old man in his arms. She glared at him, and screamed, "She's no Death Eater!"

"Could have fooled me," Draco remarked, as he came over to her. "She probably fooled you too Granger. You didn't know she was a witch did you?"

"No," she admitted, "but she isn't! Leila wouldn't do such a stupid thing. Her parents are Muggles! I swear it!"

"Why don't we find out," Dumbledore said wearily, as he stood up with the help of Harry and Draco. "I may not be as strong as I used to be, but I can tell the girl is no Death Eater. She didn't try to send the killing curse at me, and any Death Eater would have sent that curse at me first." He muttered the spell to awaken the girl, as Harry and Draco both pointed their wands at the girl, ready.

When Leila awakened, she smiled at Hermione, but when she saw Dumbledore again, her eyes immediately hardened.

"What's going on?" she muttered as she tried to get up. "Gosh, my head hurts," she said, as she put a hand to the back of her head and found moisture there. "Blood?!"

"Oh gosh," Hermione whispered, "We have to get her to a hospital. Her head is going to need stitches!"

"Stitches?" Malfoy sneered, "Did you forget that you're a witch?"

"Shut it Malfoy!" Hermione screamed, as she looked worriedly at her friend.

"I have a port key to Hogwarts Miss Granger," Dumbledore said, taking out a key from his robe. "We can talk there as well."

Still holding their wands out at Hermione and Leila, Draco and Harry moved closer to the two, and Dumbledore followed. The five touched the port key, and before they knew it were transported to Hogwarts Hospital Wing.

"Madam Promfrey?" Hermione rushed towards the nurse nearby, shocked at the five unexpected guests. "Please! My friend got hurt!"

"Of course," the old nurse nodded, and rushed towards the bleeding girl. "Come, we must get you to a bed so that I may look at it. Nasty cut you got yourself, whoever did this should be ashamed of themselves." She muttered, as the two walked away.

Harry looked abashed, however, stood firm, "I'll stay here, in case she really is a death eater."

"We need to talk Miss Granger," Dumbledore started.

"No, we don't," Hermione said coldly, "haven't I made myself clear ten years ago?"

"I apologize for that Miss Granger, but we need to talk now," he said firmly.

"What makes you think I'll talk to you?"

"What makes you think he'll stop bothering you if you don't?" Malfoy retorted.

Knowing that he was right, after a few moments, she nodded and followed him to his office while Malfoy and Harry stayed to watch Leila.

The walk to his office was a silent one, and as they made their way there, she saw the surprised looks of past teachers. Some even attempted at greeting her for they knew the truth, but she ignored them, and continued her way. She saw some of the students there whispering as they past. Some even pointed at her in recognition and glared at her.

"Traitor!" some called out to her, only to be silenced by the stern look by Dumbledore.

When they finally reached his office and Hermione sat down in a chair Fawkes flew to her and nudged his head to her neck. She ignored it however, and refused to pet the beautiful bird.

"What now Dumbledore?" she said bluntly, "need me to take blame for the release of Voldemort again?" she sneered.

"I know that it was unfair to have the wizarding world blame you for that," Dumbledore sighed. "I apologize for that. However, you and I both know that Harry back then could not have taken blame. Had he, everyone would –"

"Shun him as they did me?" she said coldly. "Whisper taunts and blame as I walk past? Throw curses in anger as they did me?"

"Yes," he nodded, "you and me know that if we were to defeat Voldemort, Harry needs the public on his side, and no one but Harry can defeat him."

"He could have defeated him ten years ago!" she yelled, "had he the guts to do it, it would all have been over! But no, even when handed to him on a platter as no one could even touch the bastard, he couldn't do it! Why? All because of a few words of plea for pity and forgiveness! Pathetic!"

"He was young then."

"I know that! I'm merely stating what happened! What I can't stand was you!" she said harshly. "You used everyone! Harry, everyone around him, every resource you have to manipulate to fight for you!"

"Against Voldemort!"

"It's all but a game to you though isn't it? A game between the student you disliked in school back when you were a teacher! Tell me if I'm wrong!"

"…"

"No? Than I'll continue!" Hermione said harshly. "What you're doing may be a good cause for society, but as soon as you use the people around you, you discard them like nothing. Just like me." She paused then, as Dumbledore merely looked down. "You used me to help Harry through school, to make sure he goes through school learning. Then you used me to lure Voldemort here, not caring for my life or any students that could have and did die in the process. You handed Voldemort over to Harry, smiling as you saw how weak and pathetic he was thinking that he can't even handle a mere _boy _less than half his age. When Harry failed to kill him because he naively believed him, you tried to kill him yourself in anger." Again, silence at her words. "However, your curse didn't kill him because only Harry may harm him. Instead the spell made him strong and he used what little magic he had left, and got away by apparating out of Hogwarts. He broke the seal on Hogwarts, and managed to apparate out because of your magic, when we all know from Hogwarts: A History, that you can't apparate in or out of Hogwarts! He escaped because of you!"

"Yes," Dumbledore nodded, as he sat down further into his chair tiredly. "He did. I learned my mistake now however. Very clever though Hermione," he smiled sincerely towards her. "No one understood what truly took place. The people in the order were only told that Harry allowed him to go because he thought he sensed change in Voldemort. Even Draco believed that even when he was watching the battle. He thought that my Avada Kedevra couldn't kill him, and he only took that chance to apparate. He didn't know that it was because of my power that he escaped."

"I understood what would happen should the truth be known," Hermione sighed, "had the wizarding world thought you or Harry had freed him, they would have distrusted you immediately. They wouldn't have trusted you two, and there would always be doubt. So you used me and I agreed, on the condition that you leave me out of this."

"Yes, and I agreed to it," Dumbledore sighed. "However, we need you now Hermione."

"Too bad," Hermione replied. "You know the only reason why I helped was to protect my family. Voldemort had attempted to kill them several times, and had not for your protection they would have died earlier. However, you failed protecting them in the end, and now, I really can careless about the wizarding world."

"Hermione," he tried.

"It's Granger."

"Miss Granger," he tried again, "all I'm asking you to do, is but take a teaching position here at Hogwarts."

"What?" she raised an eyebrow. "Me, the traitorous witch? A teacher?"

"Your name will be cleared, and we need you as a teacher here."

"A teacher? Now why would I want to be a teacher? Don't you have others?"

"They are far too busy working for the order. Hogwarts has now become a stronghold for the good, and we need powerful witches and wizards teaching, younger, witches and wizards. Who better, than the top graduating student?"

"No," she said flatly.

"We want you here for we expect Voldemort to come after you in the Muggle World Miss Granger." Receiving no response, he added, "I want to protect you. We want to protect you. You can't fight him on your own, and you can't go into hiding. Not with your company on the rise."

"I can figure a way out myself thank you," she said stiffly. "If you don't mind, if that is all you will be asking, I want to get back to Leila now."

"Miss Granger, think about it," Dumbledore said, standing up as he she moved to the door. "You're a business woman, correct?" this statement stopped her in her tracks, and she looked back at him. "Should you stay and teach; you can expand your company's products to new consumers. Wizards to be exact."

"Wizards?"

"Yes, imagine the untapped revenue source." Dumbledore smiled. "We will help you of course, and these technologies will help the wizarding world accept muggle-borns more as well."

"…I will think on it," she sighed, "however, I refuse to go back to being your pawn. If I do accept, I will only be a teacher, correct?"

"Yes," he nodded.

"I will give you a reply before I leave," she said, as she walked out the door.

"However," Dumbledore said to no one as the door closed. "As a teacher, you will have more than your share of responsibilities. Including protecting students and fighting when need be, especially now when Hogwarts will be the next battleground considering that we're losing our footing to Voldemort."

a/n ….sooo….i typed it in a rush, so I hope that you guys understood. If not, just say so in the review, but I'll be explaining it in further detail next chapter. i know, wizards and tech, but hey, I have an explanation for that too ;) so please read and review, and thank you for the reviews!! I'm so happy tear however threatening they may be, I accept all reviews! And I really appreciate it, so thank you again! ;)


	3. Chapter 3

The Pawns, the Rooks, the Knights, and the Queen and King

Disclaimer: The characters are not mine, and this goes for all of my chapters, just incase I forget. :p

Summary: "We are all but pieces in his game; no one knows their true role. But whether I'm a pawn, a rook, a knight, or even a queen, I will always be sacrificed for the King. Now tell me why I should return to a game in which I will have to sacrifice myself for another, with no gain of my own?" "Simple." He smirked. "Just because he set up the game, doesn't mean the players always follow."

Chapter 2: Vacation

Slowly making her way back to the Hospital Wing, Hermione thought about the conversation she just had. As much as she hated the old man, he did have a point there; the magical community is indeed an untapped possible consumer. With the way things were going, she had more than enough money to promote her company throughout the community, and with Fudge as Minister of Magic, she can easily force the government to support her as well. Fudge, after all, is still the wimpy wizard he is, a few threats here and there and the man would be begging on his knees.

While she was walking, deep in thought, she didn't notice how the students and few refugees were staring at her profusely. Out of no where, she sensed something thrown near her head and immediately dodged it. Looking back, she saw that none other than a twelve year old boy, with raven hair and fierce blue eyes glaring at her. He picked

up another rock, and was about to throw it when a voice called out.

"Read!" an old voice said sternly. "This may be the Summer Vacation, and I may not be your teacher at the moment, but I know you did not attempt to attack Granger with a rock."

Turning around, she saw none other than an older version of Severus Snape staring at her and the boy. He still had the same oily black hair, and black robes he always wore. The two watched as the boy trudged away, and looked at each other. He nodded briefly at her, and without a word, left her.

Okay, she thought. Never thought I'd see the day Snape defending me. As she walked, she remembered the single thing that was in her way: her reputation as a traitorous witch.

Not twenty feet away from the Ward, she heard voices of people yelling and the occasional scream of sheer terror. Running, she came into a disorderly Ward, with Harry being held back by a straining Malfoy, and Madam Promfrey standing between Harry and Leila who sneered.

"What's wrong _Potter_?" Leila sneered. "Can't handle the _hero_ status any longer? Fame comes with a price you know. Friends and family are but two things from the list."

"You fucken bitch!" Harry yelled, as he struggled in Malfoy's grip. "Give me back my wand Malfoy! I'm obliterating her!"

"Get a grip Potter!" groaned Malfoy as he continued to fight against Harry.

"What's going on?" Hermione asked hesitantly as she came into the room.

"Miss Granger, finally," Madam Promfrey rushed over to her. "Please, you must do something about your two friends! They're disrupting my patients, and I don't want to throw your friend out right now because she needs rest. I'm doing this as a favor to you, but I will not let this hurt my other patients!" she shrieked.

"Thank you for treating her," Hermione nodded in appreciation. "I'll take care of them, don't worry." Walking over to them, she saw that Leila had her hands on her hips and with each sentence she finished, Harry seemed to fight out of Malfoy's grip harder.

"Stop it Leila," Hermione said sternly. "Now isn't the time to pick a fight."

"Isn't it?" Leila replied. "He accused me of being a Death Eater, and he said that _my _kind had killed too many of his family and friends. He said that he _knows _who my kind is, and what they can do. I'm merely measuring up to his expectations." She smirked, nonetheless going back to her bed and sitting on it.

"Harry," Hermione said calmly, as he continued to struggle against Malfoy's grip.

"Do something Granger before I lose my gr-" before Malfoy could even finish his sentence, Harry had broke free, took the wand from Malfoy's hand.

"Stupefy!" he yelled, angrily.

"Protego," Leila said almost lazily as she had her wand in her hand already, expecting it. "Honestly, have you no imagination? Is Stupefy all you learned before your _Mummy_ died?"

"Crucio!" Harry tried again, but in his anger, his aim was completely off by a foot.

"Pathetic," she snickered. "And just earlier, you were talking about how righteous you are. Since when is it legal to use one of the Unforgivable Curses?"

"You!" Harry roared.

"Harry! Stop it! Stop it now!" Hermione shrieked, coming between Harry and Leila's bed. "What's got into you? You just used the Cruciatus Curse!"

"I…I" Not saying another word, he glared at Leila, turned around, and left.

"I'll be outside should you need help in dealing with her," Malfoy told Hermione before he turned around and leave as well. Before he was completely out of sight, he added, "Not bad. In all the years I've taunted him, he's never once actually aimed to kill me. Not bad, not bad at all."

Once he was gone, Hermione looked at Leila and narrowed her eyes. "Did you really have to talk about the death of his family like that? You'd be hurt too if you're the cause of your parents' death. It's a touchy subject for anyone, and that was just low."

"It is better he learn how to control himself now and deal with it," Leila shrugged, "what would happen to us if Voldemort plays that card?" she sighed, and smiled sweetly at Hermione. "So, when are we going home?"

"I'm not done with you yet," Hermione rolled her eyes, as she pulled the curtains around her bed to give them privacy. "Since when were you a witch?" she grilled, as she sat down in a chair next to her bed.

"Since I was born, duh," Leila rolled her eyes at the question.

"You know what I mean. Why didn't you tell me?"

"You didn't tell me either."

"You knew who I am, the traitor witch who freed Voldemort. You should have heard of me shouldn't you?"

"Of course," Leila sighed, "and to be honest I was shocked. I found out after I met you. You should know information takes a while to travel across an ocean."

"…why didn't you shun me? Are you his supporter, is that why?" Hermione asked softly, her heart faltering at the thought of Leila being a Death Eater.

"Meia," Leila smiled, as she used the shorter version she made of her name. "Do I look like I'd be a death eater? Look at my arm," she showed her. "Cast any revealing spell you want, there is no mark on my skin."

"Why didn't you hate me? Why were you at a muggle university?"

"Same reason as yours. I don't want to be restricted in a wizarding community. As you know, my foster parents are Muggles, and I would much rather live with them than have them live uncomfortably in the magical community. Don't tell me you don't see how downgraded muggle-borns are?"

"Of course," Hermione sighed. "Why do you think I worked so hard in school? If I didn't I would have no standings in this society, nothing matters more than blood but results. So I hardened myself and made sure I was second to no one. But again, why didn't you hate me? Why continue to befriend me?"

"Because you're not a bad person," Leila smiled. "Besides, I didn't know the full story, only Dumbledore's word that you were a traitor. You didn't seem like it to me, and I'm sure that there's your side to the story as well." Hermione smiled brightly at this and hugged the girl, who patted her back. "And now, I know that I was right. Why else would Boy Wonder over there and the old man ask you back if there weren't more to the story?"

"I'm sorry," Hermione smiled sadly at her, "but I can't tell you about it now. I promised not to breathe a word of it to anyone. But you're right, I am asked back. Whether I'm staying or not is another thing."

"So what's your plan?" Leila asked, curious. "If you want, I can take care of the company while you do what you got to do."

"I was thinking," Hermione said, putting a hand to her chin.

"And we all know how dangerous that could be," Leila muttered, earning a punch from Hermione. "I'm a patient here!"

"Anyway, the old man pitched an idea to me. He said that he would promote our company to the Magical Community."

"Hmmm," Leila closed her eyes and leaned back, which was a sign of her thinking. "Not a bad idea, especially with them not knowing much of it, and we can overprice them slightly. No competitors for these consumers, a win-win situation."

"I thought so," Hermione grinned.

"No legalities that I can think of at the moment," Leila nodded, "only problem is promoting it. We have the money, but money doesn't mean support. One, they say they're open-minded but only few are actually going to buy it, two, they hate you, and three, this will cost us a lot of money if we lose this campaign. Last but not least, four. What's the price? Nothing comes for free."

"He wants me to be a teacher for him in exchange of the company's promotion and protection," Hermione sighed.

"Does he think that we're dense?" Leila scoffed. "We may be out of it, but I know that you still keep things up to date with this world right? I know I did."

"Of course," Hermione laughed. "Did you ever doubt? Knowledge is power after all. You don't think that after our gang days, I haven't learned that lesson."

"Too true," Leila laughed. Remembering the times where the two had gone into a fight without any knowledge of the enemy's forces and weaponry. She sighed of the good old memories of those little prank wars between gangs, and the two playing the gangs off against each other during college.

"Hogwarts will probably be the next battleground, and honestly, Voldemort been looking for me for a while now, and I can protect myself easily. I don't run, I fight."

"Explains the deaths of a few death eaters in our area," Leila nodded.

"Yes, a friend is helping me by taking up the kills himself, so Voldemort doesn't actually know it's me. He thinks it's the Order killing off his spies."

"So his offer leaves only the promotion."

"I don't know," Hermione shrugged. "We have enough money as it is, and to be honest, I'm not too sure with this. Sure there is no competition, but when it comes down to it, I don't want to be working for him. Besides, we'll have to hire wizards and witches, and then there's no guarantee of it actually working. We'll lose so much money, and the profits aren't that great. After all, there are only a few hundred thousands of wizards and witches."

"How was he planning on promoting a traitor's company?" Leila asked curiously.

"I think he was planning on clearing my name," Hermione shrugged. "I can care less though."

After a few moments of silence, Leila said fiercely, "We'll do it!"

"What?!" Hermione yelled, getting hushes from Madam Promfrey from across the room.

"Your name is priceless," Leila explained. "Don't you want to walk down the street without having people throw stuff at you?"

This reminded her of the little rock incident, however, she still could care less.

"Think about it," Leila said fiercely. "I'm a lawyer, I know. A name could easily be tarnished, but restored? That's a different story. Think of how many roads will open up to you should your name be restored? People will pity you for being misunderstood so many years! I could make a turn of events and say how pitiful you were when you were practically banished from the Wizarding Community!" she said excitedly, stars shining in her eyes now, "You will be so loved by the public! You can even run for Minister...or Ministress…whatever! Then you can promote your company yourself, and so forth!"

"What are you saying?" Hermione raised an eyebrow.

"Take up his offer!" Leila said at an extremely fast speed.

"…you're mad," Hermione shook her head, "politically mad. I know you always wanted to take up into politics but this is ridiculous."

"Hermione," Leila raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you don't want to get back at the people who wronged you. I know you do. I know you far too well. You may say you are better than them, but given the slightest chance that you could get back at them, you would. Now tell me that you don't want the total adoration and apology of the public who wronged you."

Silence answered Leila's question, as Hermione kept her mouth shut. She didn't trust herself to speak, knowing that her outburst would be what Leila wanted. She loved the feeling of her being right and others wrong. She had loved it even back when she was studying for tests, quizzing others when really she was just boosting her self-confidence at their ignorance. "There's the matter of helping him though."

"Hmm," Leila thought to herself several scenarios in which to approach the problem, and nothing popped into her mind.

"I don't want to fight in this stupid war," Hermione replied. "Especially with him! He let my parents die, and there's really nothing to fight for anymore with them gone. My brother and I and you and your parents can all take care of themselves perfectly well."

"I don't wouldn't want to get suck into this war either but," Leila agreed, "I know! You can work for him for but a year!" she smiled. "I know that doesn't really solve anything, but a year isn't all that bad."

"A year?" Hermione raised an eyebrow.

"Consider it a vacation. Contracts and everything. One year, and one year only. I'll write up the contract myself, and make it apply to ministry laws and muggle laws, any breaching of the contract, he'll have to…" she trailed off, not knowing what to say. What does Dumbledore own anyway? I know he used to own a mansion, but now? She thought.

"Pay with Hogwarts itself," Hermione smirked, surprising Leila.

"Why would you want this rusty, run-down castle?" Leila asked, looking about her. "Am I missing something?"

"This place has some childhood memories," Hermione shrugged. "Besides, can you imagine me as headmistress? It'll be so fun! I can revolutionize the way the newer generations think and approach muggle relationships!"

"Fair enough," Leila nodded.

"Just so you know," Hermione smiled, cheekily. "I'm not suffering through a year myself."

"….what's that supposed to mean?" Leila asked suspiciously.

"Dumbledore will probably be doubtful about one year, but with another witch," Hermione smiled. "He saw how powerful you were, and I have a feeling he'll me train them with the knowledge to fight. If I'm to be fighting with a bunch of students, which I have a feeling I probably will, I'd much rather have them trained somewhat physically. In the midst of battle, you and I both know the importance of depending on allies, so I think we'll need a physical education teacher."

"…excuse me? Did you not hear me when we graduated! I swore never to step into another classroom again! Not as a student and most definitely not as a teacher!"

"So you're just going to leave me here alone?" Hermione asked, "Some friend you are!"

"Hermione Liona Granger!"

"Leila May Grayheart!" The two glared at each other, both were unwilling to relent, and Leila especially. As much as she loved Hermione as her best friend, she really doesn't want to work for Dumbledore. Anyone but Dumbledore. Hell, she didn't want to take part in this war either. She had been doing great for the past fifteen years staying out of this war, and she intends to keep it that way. Looking at Hermione though, she knows that she had to help her. She may seem tough, but those words and taunts, Leila knew that it hurts her, and she'll need spiritual support through all this. But does that really mean that I have to be there for spiritual support? She thought to herself. Sighing, she replied, "Fine, but just to tell you," she said professionally. "I'll make the contract the same to me, so we'll share ownership of Hogwarts of the contract is breached. Unlike you, I won't feel the need to actually help people when they're in trouble. Don't even deny it," Leila scoffed, as she saw Hermione tried to defend herself. "That's part of your weakness, you stand up firm too much, and I'm always the one that has to compromise all the time. When you see people in need of help, you help. That's you. That's why he only asks you to be a teacher here. He knows that you will help in the fight if your students are in harm. He's playing your weakness. I, on the other hand, can watch without flinching at people dying. So I'll teach, but that doesn't mean I will take up my wand and fight should Death Eaters attack here. I will defend myself and watch your back, but that will be all."

Looking at Leila, Hermione sighed, and nodded. Leila only helped people who she cares. Loyal to a fault, she knows that Leila would be true to her word. Somehow though, she knew that Leila may be heartless at times, but there was a certain "fierceness" towards Dumbledore. It was almost like she hates him for some reason. Interesting, she thought. "Deal, one year in hell."

A/n I hope this adds more, and there will be more to this. Yes, Leila and Hermione were in a gang. Not sure you guys caught that though, but yeah, they were….well not really. More will be explained, and I hope you stay with me. There's more of a twist to this throughout the year they're teaching, and term starts within a week. ;)

Again, thank you for the reviews. : D and pls keep it up. Read and Review please! Comments gladly accepted


	4. Chapter 4

The Pawns, the Rooks, the Knights, and the Queen and King

Disclaimer: The characters do not belong to me. The only one that does so far is Leila Grayheart, and if you don't know who the other characters belong to, then shame on you.

Summary: "We are all but pieces in his game; no one knows their true role. But whether I'm a pawn, a rook, a knight, or even a queen, I will always be sacrificed for the King. Now tell me why I should return to a game in which I will have to sacrifice myself for another, with no gain of my own?" "Simple." He smirked. "Just because he set up the game, doesn't mean the players always follow."

Chapter 4: New Beginnings

For the rest of the day, Hermione and Leila sat together and wrote up the contract for as long they could until Madame Promfrey demanded that Leila needs her rest. Hermione had asked whether she could stay with Leila, however, there were no room in the ward. Voldemort's attack on wizards had been more active lately and many were new order members who were too inexperienced and were hurt. Madame Promfrey told Hermione that Dumbledore had saved her a room and that Malfoy will take her to it. Hermione sighed, and walked outside the ward just as Malfoy came.

"You know," he told her, as he walked right past her. Hermione taking the hint followed him. "You could have told me that everything was fine, so that I could go on my merry little way, instead of waiting outside for about an hour."

"Aww," Hermione teased, "you actually stayed outside the ward in case she really was a Death Eater? Worried that the little mudblood couldn't take care of herself?"

"Such ingratitude," he sneered, "I thought Gryfindors are noble, not sarcastic."

"And I thought Slytherins are uncaring."

"If you think that I _care_ for you," he replied coldly, that sent shivers down her spine, "then you are _deadly_ wrong."

It was then Hermione noticed the change in him. Before, his words had always been cold and harsh, but there was really no true threat in his words. Now however, it seemed he _meant _exactly what he said. It was as if something dark had loomed over his once childish hatred. Then again, she thought, war can do that to just anyone because she was sure that she was not the same bookworm Granger she was when she was at school either.

When the two finally reached a portrait of two Greek goddesses, who Hermione recognized as Artemis and Aphrodite, Malfoy said, "Golden apple," and the portrait immediately swung open. Briskly, he walked away without another word to her. Sighing, she was about to go in when a voice called out to her.

"Granger," Malfoy called without even turning back. "Not bad. Looks like you've finally grown into your womanhood."

"What?" she yelled angrily, slightly blushing, as he disappeared around a corner.

"What'd you expect my dear?" Artemis, in the picture, said wryly. Hermione turned around, and stared angrily at the dark brown haired beautiful goddess. She had brown eyes as well, and was wearing Greek men clothing, with a bow on her back. She was fingering the tip of her arrow lazily, her hair in a single braid. "You are wearing nothing, but a _bathrobe_. At least tie it _tighter_ around yourself dear."

"What do you me—" her mouth formed the letter o as she saw that indeed, she still wore her bathrobe from this morning. Although she had tied it tight around herself this morning, the knot had unwound and even though it wasn't flapping, it revealed quite a bit of her cleavage. Quickly, she tightened the knot.

"Aww," Aphrodite sighed, her long blonde hair, waving about as she shook her head. She wore a vibrant pink Greek dress, and was biting into an apple. "Don't tighten it dear. It looks better that way."

"I don't think so."

"Why not?" she smiled. "The handsome, blonde young man from earlier seems to think so too."

Slightly blushing, Hermione muttered, "Night," and went inside briskly.

The next morning, Hermione woke up early and found that everything she needed was in the cabinet, and clothes were provided in the closet. Sighing in relief, she quickly performed her daily morning ritual, and changed into a pink sleeveless tank top, somewhat dark green shorts, and a pair green flip-flop. Walking out, she greeted the two goddesses and quickly went to the Hospital Wing. Due to the fact that she was short, many seventh years staying for the summer was taller then her. Some even mistook her for a student, until they realized who she was.

"I hate taking potions!" she heard Leila whine from outside the infirmary. "Can't I just take an aspirin for my headaches?"

"Miss Grayheart!" Madame Promfrey shrieked, "my potions are ten times stronger then those medicine!" she said indignantly.

"Yes," Leila nodded, as Hermione came in and sat down next to her bed. "_But_ it also _tastes_ ten times worse. Please, I would very much like an aspirin."

"Hmph, very well then," Madame Promfrey said, as she left rather unhappy at the fact that her potion was being compared to Muggle medicine. Her potion was ten times stronger then that worthless thing!

"Making friends already huh?" Hermione noted. "Just take her potion. It doesn't taste that bad."

"Meia," Leila sighed. "I refuse to drink that thing! It's bitter, salty, and sour. Not to mention the smell is _horrifying_!" She shook her head and shuddered at the thought, and quickly drank a pill. "I took the liberty of finishing the contract. Just take it to the old geezer and have him sign on the dotted line." She sighed, lying down on the bed again.

"You don't want to take it to him with me?"

"…I'm sorry Hermione," Lenne lied, "I don't think I'm feeling well enough yet."

"…I see," Hermione nodded, seeing straight through the girl's lie. She inwardly smiled for whenever Leila lied to Hermione, her voice would go slightly lower at the end of the lie. Walking back out, she stopped and looked back at Leila. She was still lying on the bed with a soft smile on her face, but Hermione saw through her smile and her brow creased with worry. Leila's jaw was tense, and her eyes although seem at the epiphany of peace, she saw fear behind it. Leila doesn't like Dumbledore for a reason, Hermione thought, and Leila never dislike someone without a really _good _reason.

"First years!" Draco growled, causing several students to jump at least two feet in the air. He inwardly smiled, and thought, Hmph, still got it. Without further delay, the first years immediately followed him. Harry laughed as he saw the sour expression on Draco's face as one was scared stiff and couldn't even move. Seeing as he had his own duties, Harry quickly led other students to their area and smiled. This year was bound to get interesting, and he was more than happy that his childhood friend is back. Too bad she had to bring along that _friend_ of hers.

"Welcome," Dumbledore's voice echoed throughout the Great Hall. With everything under way, and running smoothly, everyone was now in their seats and the first years sorted. "To another year at Hogwarts!" he paused for the applause to end, and smiled again. "As you are all well aware, there is more than a likely chance that Voldemort will attack here. However, your teachers and I vow to protect you all to the best of our abilities. Sadly, we teachers cannot be everywhere, therefore you all must be on, what some of you may remember from Professor Moody, CONSTANT VIGILANCE. Keep your eyes and ears open, and report to your teachers should you suspect anything." He paused then, to allow the information to sink in. Looking around, he knew that not all the students were loyal to him, but he was willing to turn a blind eye as long as there is no trouble. "In light to this, we have acquired assistance from two trustworthy witches that shall become your professors this year. Allow me to call," he took a deep breath then, and said, "Hermione Granger and Lenne Grayheart!"

And on cue, the door busted open with Hermione in a black robe and Lenne in professional muggle clothes. It was a sight indeed, the two stood with smirks on their faces as everyone turned to stare at them in shock. In shock that Hermione was the teacher, the traitor, and Lenne boldly dressing in muggle clothing. The two waltzed up to the teacher's table and took their seats. As soon as the student body finally composed themselves and was about to riot, Dumbledore interrupted.

"As you all know," he said, staring fiercely down at them should any dare to interrupt, "Miss Granger was once a student in these very halls herself. In one night, she lost it all, due to a _misunderstanding._" Confusion immediately hit the student body, as everyone looked up to him confused.

"YOU'RE JUST COVERING FOR HER!" one of the students yelled, Lenne noted that it was a female with beautiful blonde hair. Meeting her blue eyes, she gave her a cold smile that immediately silenced her.

"No I am not," Dumbledore smiled, "I wish to apologize to Miss Granger," he said, turning to Hermione and bowing. "For we, no I have misjudged her, causing her to be shunned by her very peers and the rest of the Wizarding World. In truth, the one who had let Voldemort escape and ruined that fateful night that we could have killed him, was none other than this man here." He said, pointing his wand to a nearby wall, and whispering a few words, an image appeared.

Everyone gasped as the image showed a red haired man laughing maniacally. Hermione's eyes widened as she recognized who it was. "Ronald Weasley?" she whispered. Immediately, she looked over to Harry and Draco. Harry didn't looked surprised at all, and his eyes glared at the image with hatred while Draco looked at the image with indifference.

"The true traitor was none other than Ronald Weasley," Dumbledore yelled, "he confessed it himself not a week ago. During that time, he had helped Voldemort gain power and helped him apparated out of the castle. Following that, he revealed our plans again and again to him. At this very moment, he is standing on trial and shall be sent to Azkaban tomorrow." He finished, as the image disappeared.

Shocked faces met Hermione's. Everyone started to talk, some accepting the evidence, others refuting it.

"If another person," Dumbledore said loudly, "should accuse Miss Granger again, that person will be dealing with _me _personally. I will not have any of my students disrespect any of my teachers." He said deadly, and after a moment, he smiled, and said, "Now, as for what they will be teaching. Miss Granger," he smiled at Hermione, "shall be taking over for Professor McGonagall, and will be teaching Transfiguration. She shall also by Gryffindor's head." He smiled as everyone on the Gryffindor table cheered loudly. "And as for Miss Grayheart here," he said, trying to catch her eye, but Leila merely looked down at the students, "she shall be teaching physical education to all sixth and seventh years." Everyone began muttering then, as again many were confused. "I shall leave the introduction of the class to her, and yes, this class is a requirement for you all to graduate. You must take it for at least two years. Seventh years will be pardoned for the one year as this is their last year, however, everyone else will be taking it for two years. They may choose to take it for more than two, but they must take if for any two years of their choice."

"As the Headmaster had said," Leila said coolly, "I shall be teaching you all a little thing called physical education. I'm sure, that at least," she rolled her eyes, "some of you know what it is, so I will not go in depth. You all shall know of it soon enough when class starts tomorrow. Sixth and seventh years do not need to fear for it will not mean extra work because I will guarantee you an O in it as long as you do your best and show improvement in you abilities, you shall be fine. I understand that the pressure is great with O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s, and I'm not unreasonable. But if you give me any reason for dislike, you can trust that I will make you suffer all wraths of hell." She smiled sweetly, as deathly silence met her speech. She knew that only muggles knew what it was and really couldn't care less what the others thought of her bluntness.

"Ahem," Dumbledore started. "Well, you will have a week to sign up for that class for the younger students. And now, let us begin our feast!" he roared, as food appeared and everyone ate.

"Slightly…harsh don't you think?" Hermione raised her eyebrow at Leila as she started piling up on the beef.

"If you think that was harsh, you wouldn't have liked my original then," Leila smiled as she took some smashed potatoes.

"You sure she's not a Death Eater?" Harry whispered in Hermione's ear.

"You're just being overly suspicious," Hermione whispered back. "What about Malfoy?"

"He's okay now," Harry shrugged.

"What do you two teach anyway? I was surprised that I'm heading the Gryffindors and not you."

"I'm the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and Malfoy here is now the Potion Master as well as the Slytherin Head."

"What's the deal with Ron?" Hermione asked quietly.

"To be honest," Harry sighed. "I don't know much about it myself. Malfoy caught him actually." And before Hermione even asked, he smiled and told her, "and I believe every word Malfoy said. Our plans have been leaked throughout the years, and no one figured out why. I started talking to Ron about it, how we might have a traitor. Immediately, Malfoy was blamed and so forth. However, when he told me that it wasn't him, I believed him. Later on, he and I set the traitor up. Yes, Malfoy and I. He had a suspicion who it was, but I had no clue. I just knew that it wasn't him or me. I didn't even think whether it could be Ron or not. Next thing I knew, Ron was telling everything to Voldemort before my very eyes, and that's the end of the story."

"Wow," Hermione smiled. "Ron? Rather hard to believe but, I think the most surprising thing should be that you trust Malfoy."

"He's not bad once you get to know his principles I suppose," Harry shrugged. "Ready for a new year 'Mione?" Harry smirked.

"I haven't been called that in so long now," Hermione smiled softly, "but the question should be, whether _you_ are ready for the new year because from what I hear, Leila's going to spice things up to get fired."

"Leila…I know that you're worried about me and all, but…don't you have a morning class?" Hermione asked as she once again looked over her class schedule. She was teaching advanced transfiguration first period, and she wanted to make the best impression as possible. Leila seeing how stressed she was volunteered to help, and had been setting the class up for the day's events.

"Please Meia," Leila rolled her eyes as she straightened some books. "Like I'm going to get fired."

"You know," Hermione said smugly as she sat down in her leather chair, which she brought from her own office. It was a large chair that allowed her to lean back comfortably in it. "We have something called magic," and with that said, with a wave of her arm, the class was immediately neat and tidy.

"Shush," Lenne reprimanded, "as good as magic is, I have arms and legs that could have easily done that."

"Again," Hermione sighed, "might I remind you that you have a morning class? And from what I've heard from Harry, Slytherins and Gryffindors still don't mix well. Why did you choose to put the two houses of seventh years together anyway?"

"Because," Leila smirked. "I like a challenge."

"What the hell!" a blonde growled as she stood in her P.E. shorts and overly large white t shirt. "What kind of class is this anyway? Why do I have to wear shorts that reach my knees and an overly large plain white t shirt?!"

"I know!" a pretty brunette nodded vigorously.

"I mean, look at me!" the blue eyed blonde added, "We're not even allowed to change this stupid uniform!"

Outside the castle, two large groups of seventh years stood separate. On one side were of course the Gryffindors and the other, the Slytherins. It was as if an invisible line divided the two houses. On the Slytherin side, a lone black haired boy rolled his eyes at the two girls in his house complaints. Honestly, he thought, just how dense can these girls be?

On the other side, a young girl with blue sun glasses and dark brown hair sat down in the grass. Leaning against the tree, she sighed in content and drift off in a light slumber. Although her glasses looked like sun glasses, it was in fact also a prescription glass.

"It's been ten minutes!" the blonde shrieked, "What the hell's taking that Mudblood teacher so long?!"

"That will be an extra two laps for you 6," said teacher called out as she walked towards the group. Looking around, she saw that she got several leers despite her clothes. She wore a simple jacket, and knee length shorts, however it still wasn't enough. Sighing, she rolled her eyes at the whistles. "I hear another whistle and all of you will be running an extra five laps."

"Running?" the blonde asked, surprised. "Just what kind of class is this?"

"If you want to know," Leila said coldly, "then I suggest that you shut the hell up." Immediately, the girl silenced as she saw the underlining tone Leila had. "I have very little patience, and if you decide to be a smartass, then I suggest you do so in other classes because I will make you regret ever opening your mouth." Inwardly smirking at the replies she got, she took out her wand and immediately a spreadsheet appeared in glowing colors of purple. "Find your name, and sit according to the number besides it. From here on out, you will be referred to by that number." With that said, she muttered another spell and immediately a row of numbers appeared on the ground. When she saw no one moved, she sighed in annoyance and said, "I suggest you move, now before I add more laps." Despite the confused faces, people started sitting immediately.

When everyone was seated, the blonde raised her annoying voice again. "Why do I have to be surrounded by these losers?" she demanded

"Tough luck," Leila replied. "And if you don't like it, you can walk right out of my class. I can really care less whether you graduate or not." After everyone quieted, Leila took in a deep breath and started, "Well, all you need to know about my class is, as long as you do as you're told, you'll do fine. This includes doing your best at everything, and following my every word." After a moment, she continued, "Physical Education is a class in which I shall help you train your body, build your endurance, strength, and stamina. As I know, many people ignore their health in the wizarding community due to spells and potions, however, statistics has proven that an active wizard or witch who doesn't rely on such things will live much longer. The reason why most of you probably don't even know the existence of these spells and potions is due to the fact that it is in everything the wizarding community eat – the very air you breathe in consists of these spells and potions. However, it only affects the magical community. You can find more information on this from Madam Promfrey should you wish to." She took a deep breath. That was a mouthful, she thought. "If I am to cast the spell that reverse all those spells and potions you drank, most if not all, of you will probably be obese, and you will be suffering from many other health problems." Again, she paused as she watched people squirm about uncomfortably about what she just said.

"Please," the blonde cried out, "there is no such spell! Besides, I'm perfectly _naturally_ healthy." She said confidently.

"Oh really?" Leila grinned, "why don't we test that out." Taking her wand out of her sleeve within a blink of an eye, she cast the spell. The girl's body began shaking as suddenly she started throwing up. Her eyes glared at Leila when suddenly her hands started getting chubbier, her legs quivered at the weight it was now supporting. Her heart shaped face turned round, her cheeks started bulging out, and her stomach got bloated. Soon enough, she fell, unable to get up and carry her weight.

"What now six?"

"…" the girl couldn't say anything as she turned red from embarrassment as several boys and girls laughed at her.

"Should I reverse the spell now?" the girl nodded immediately, and Leila obliged. She even fixed the shirt and pants which had ripped from the transformation.

When the laughing refused to stop, she added, "If any of you continue to laugh, I will cast the same spell on you." Immediately, everyone quieted and she smiled cheerfully. "Now for the class's curriculum, each week, you will be running a mile. Every other week, you will be running straight for twenty minutes no stopping. You walk, and I'll make you run more. The rest of that time you will be playing sports." At the mention of this, several faces light up. "Not just Quidditch. You'll be playing other sports, such as tennis, basketball, softball, football, etc. Any requests for a certain sport, you merely have to submit to me a two feet long, size twelve writing scroll on why that sport, and how it helps train your body. Any questions?"

"What are those sports you just mentioned?" the black haired, silver blue eyed boy from slytherin asked coolly, despite his ignorance. A couple stifled their laughs, but with a simple glare from a brown haired, green eyed boy, they immediately stifled their laughs.

"Those sports will be explained in a later date," Lenne shrugged. "Because I am a new teacher, you guys will have to bear with me a bit. However, I guarantee that there will be no stress in my class because as I said, you listen to me, and do everything I say, we will have no problems whatsoever." She smiled slightly, now, "We shall start the class with your basic stretches."

Many didn't even know the basic stretches, save for a rare few who managed to copy her movements perfectly. Others however, were either confused and feeling stupid copying her, or refused to. The ones that refused to stood coolly on the sidelines and watched. It was a mixture of both Gryffindors and Slytherins, and some noticed that besides their number in purple in the air, tallies were marked next to them.

"For those of you who did do their share of the class," Lenne grinned, "You are excused from actually memorizing those stretches. The rest of you however," she smirked, "will have a test on these stretches the next time I see you. Meaning, you all," she turned to the kids on the sidelines, "will be doing exactly what I just did perfectly, and in the right order. Now," she smiled, "everyone run from here to the Forbidden Forest and back again. That is about a mile away."

Again, there was a number of kids who refused to move and Lenne continued to smile. As each person ran to the forest and back, there were times that appeared above their head, and was recorded besides their number When there was but seven minutes of class left, all the students who ran was back and breathing slightly heavily. "You guys are dismissed," she nodded, but as the ones who didn't run went back towards the school, she yelled, "You guys on the other hand, are not."

"What?" Number six yelled out, glaring coolly at her.

"Please," another boy mocked her, "Like a Mudblood of a teacher like you can do anything to us anyway. Elisa is right, you are nothing but a pathetic Mudblood."

"Try leaving then," Lenne winked. Some students stayed back, slightly fearful, but the boy, Taylor, and Elisa led a small group and walked confidently towards the castle when they hit their head loudly – as if they hit a wall.

"See those tallies beside your name?" Lenne smiled sweetly, those tallies mean that not only do you have to run the mile, but also you have to run around the lake that many times before you may leave."

"But," a girl who was in the back looked fearfully at her, "we have class to go to!"

"Should have thought of that," she snickered, "before you decided to ignore my instructions."

"Will you give us a late pass?" another asked.

"Hell nah!" Lenne laughed as she conjured a black wooden chair and table, with aromatic raspberry tea on top. She gracefully sat down and sipped her tea while the students stared unbelievably at her. "Well?" she smiled, "aren't you guys going to start running or what? I can stay here all day you know," she winked, "I get payed by the hour."

Immediately, some started running towards the Forbidden Forest.

"Bitch," Elisa muttered.

"Whore," Lenne grinned back. "And for disrespecting me, that's another tally. Have fun Six." She winked.

Lenne didn't hear it, but it was not like she didn't expected it – as Elisa ran, she muttered, "I am going to kill that Mudblood within the first attack!"

a/n: oh joy for lenne.


	5. Chapter 5

SORRIE!! i didn't realized that it was all underlined...no idea why either but yay! i fixed it! sorrie again :p

THE PAWNS, THE KNIGHTS, AND THE QUEEN AND KING

Summary: "We are all but pieces in his game, no one knows their true role. But whether I'm a pawn, a rook, a knight, or even a queen, I will always be sacrificed for the King. Now tell me why I should return to a game in which I will have to sacrifice myself for another, with no gain of my own?" "Simple." He smirked. "Just because he set up the game, doesn't mean the players always follow."

CHAPTER FIVE:

"Can you believe her?"

"Ugh, like there's any way for me to sign up for that class any earlier than I have to!"

"I know! Fucking Mudblood!"

That was where Harry stopped. Slightly growling, he turned around and stared down at the girl, "Twenty points from Slytherin for disrespecting a teacher."

The girls immediately clammed up and glared at him

Turning around, he continued his way down the hall. Wow, he thought, you'd think the Slytherins would hate him the most. It's not even lunch yet, and already, Lenne Grayhart is the most hated professor – in general. Harry noticed, as he made his way towards his class after a meeting with Dumbledore that it isn't just the Slytherins who have been calling Grayhart names. Amazingly enough, Mudblood is pretty weak compared to what he had to punish others for.

"Professor Potter is allowing us to make up our work!" one of the Gryffindor girls protested.

"Yeah!" another Ravanclaw girl added, "Not only is he allowing us to make up our work, but he also gave us a review of what we missed."

Hermione wanted to strangle Lenne at this point. Her first class wasn't exactly smooth sailing with first year Slytherins and Ravenclaws, but it was still better than her second and now third class. More than ten people were missing for one thing, but for another, they all came in late periodically – disrupting the class. The earliest one came with only a quarter of the class left. With no note, she couldn't tell whether the student came straight after running or not, but she was going to be nice and excuse the student – saying that it was the first day and he was begging – however, as soon as he mentioned that there were several like him – there was no way she can excuse them all and allow them to make up the work. Thank goodness she didn't allow him to make up the work before he said there were others. Now, her third class was better she suppose considering that less than a handful were missing, but students arriving late were continually disrupting her lecture and averted the students attention towards the door more than at her.

"I can really care less what Professor Potter," Hermione folded her arms, How dare these two girls accost her in the middle of the lecture, much less compare her with Harry, she thought, "do about you guys being late without a note. School rules. You two come in here late without a note –"

"Only because Hartless – Professor Grayhart," the Gryffindor corrected herself, "wouldn't give us one."

Hermione narrowed her eyes at the girl, and stared sternly at the girl. "Do. Not. Interrupt me."

The coldness in Hermione's eyes froze the girl, and it took her almost half a minute before nodding.

"Good," Hermione then smiled, "Now, it's not any of my business why Professor Grayhart didn't give you a pass, but you don't have a pass for a reason – whether you decided to ditch half my class or because you didn't finish your work in Professor Grayhart's class. Already, there have been several students like you – some of them beg to the point they were kneeling on the ground with tears in their eyes – and I didn't allow them to make up their work either. So, you can get notes from your friends and see what you missed, but I am not going to excuse your tardiness nor am I going to allow you to make up the class work. Deal with it." Upon saying that, she waited for her words to sink in and before they can say anything else added softly so only the two hear, "Don't come up to me and ask me something personally like that in front of the class in the middle of the class. One, you're disrupting the class, and two," she stopped there, to emphasis her point, "you're disrespecting me."

The two guiltily looked down, abashed.

"Return to your seats now. If you want clarity on the first part of the lecture you missed, you can still ask me for help."

The two nodded, and returned to their seats. At the end of the class, they came up to her to apologize and even flashed her a smile.

"Gosh," Lenne sighed upon meeting up with Hermione in the Dining Hall for lunch, "teaching is hard work."

Hermione slightly glared at Lenne. "Agreed," Hermione drawled out biting into her turkey sandwich, "especially when some teacher kept holding my students back, and refuse to give them a tardy note."

Lenne shrugged as she bit into a crouton in her salad. "Yum, Ceasar."

"Lenne," Hermione stopped, looking at Lenne expectedly.

"Meia." Lenne replied, looking at Hermione innocently.

"Grayhart."

Hermione and Lenne turned from where they sat to see Harry walking towards them and Malfoy smirking as he came from behind Harry and sat down next to Hermione. Hermione raised an eyebrow at him, as Harry walked over to sit next to Lenne.

"What's with you holding back students and not giving them a pass?" Harry started, eyeing her coldly.

"What," Lenne looked up at him innocently and turned to change her gaze from Hermione, Malfoy, to Harry, "are the three of you ganging up on me about this?"

"Leave me out of this, Grayhart," Malfoy shrugged, "I only had one seventh year class this morning, and the rest has been the younger students."

"So, you saying that if they weren't then you would be ganging up on me?"

"No, they're late, they're late," he shrugs, "I have my own late policy that doesn't allow them to make up any class work or lectures, but I'm here for the free entertainment with a meal," he grinned, as he bit into his turkey sandwich.

"Didn't know Malfoy's were such busybodies," Hermione teased.

But before Malfoy can reply, Harry started, "I don't want you holding back the students after class, and not giving them a pass afterwards."

Lenne turned and looked long and hard at him. "I have my own reasons for holding them back," Lenne started, standing up as she held her bowl of salad in one hand, "and you have no right whatsoever to tell me what to do." She stared back at him calmly, and despite her small frame and the fact that Harry is a head taller than her, she stood firm

"I agree with, Harry," Hermione said sofly from her seat, "but I don't think you two should be making a scene in front of the students."

All the students present stared at the two teachers standoff and some who doesn't usually eat lunch hovered at the doorways to watch.

"All right," Lenne nodded, "I'll yield."

"Thank you," Harry sat down.

"You didn't let me finish," Lenne smiled sweetly, "I'll yield to not have a confrontation in front of the students." She looked at him as if that was obviously what she meant. "I shall continue to hold my students after class until they're done with the assignments I have given them."

Harry then rose again since Lenne towered him over while he was seated. "Then don't give them too much to do."

Lenne raised a delicate eyebrow. "Whoever told you that, misinformed you. In other words," she sneered, "you were lied to, tricked, worked over, whichever one you prefer. I personally prefer worked over," she winked, "because it's probably some Gryffindor that crushes on you and kisses up to you told you that."

Hermione kept her mouth shut, but she was also told the same by a rather cute Gryffindor boy. She knew it was a lie though, knowing Lenne, and immediately scold him

"Get it straight before you start throwing accusations," Lenne smirked, "Don't you wonder why that it's not the majority of your class late?"

"Some people's health aren't up to par, and –"

"Please," Lenne rolled her eyes, "What I gave them can easily be done within an hour and a half. Actually, what I gave them can easily be done within a forty minutes time frame."

Harry looked at her suspiciously when Hermione cut in, "Lenne isn't lying, Harry," he gave her a look, "No, I'm not blindly defending her. I can tell whether she's lying or not."

"How?" Harry asked curiously.

"None of your business," Lenne replied stiffly.

Harry turned on Lenne, "Maybe you can easily do it in forty minutes, but –"

"Correction, four to five minutes, actually seven or eight if you add stretches," Lenne folded her arms. "You know what – I don't have to explain nothing to you. I'll yield to the confrontation like promised though," she shook her head, taking her salad and leaving the Dining Hall, she headed towards the grounds.

Harry slightly glared at her back as she left after seating himself in Lenne's seat.

"She's not lying, Harry," Hermione smiled, "trust me."

"I trust you," he looked at her, suddenly enveloping her in a friendly hug as he did so. Upon doing so, he went back to his Caesar salad, "but I don't trust her."

Hermione sighed, and shook her head. "Harry, if you haven't noticed, the ones late are the pretty spoiled ones."

Harry went back to the conversation he had with Lily Read. She is pretty spoiled, and always liked having things her way. She was the one who really complained to him about how horrible Lenne was. She even told him how difficult it was for her – or many others for that matter, to make run that distance in the time given. From his impression of Lenne, he took their word, and excused his students.

He shrugged, whether or not Lenne is being unreasonable or not, he had already excused some students, so he'll have to excuse the rest now. Besides, he may doubt Read's words, but he's also doubting Lenne's.

"Harry?" Hermione cut into his thoughts, "Do you have a class after lunch?"

"Nope," Harry grinned, "Conference class. I usually grade stuff, but it's the first day of school, so I got nothing planned."

"I was hoping that you didn't," Hermione smiled. "I was thinking of going to the grounds to see Lenne."

Harry groaned, causing Hermione to laugh. He looked up and saw Malfoy shaking his head in amusement as well. "You're coming too, Malfoy."

Malfoy looked at him and Hermione coldly, well, not as coldly as he did Hermione, "Why do I need to accompany you and Granger?"

"Because you have nothing better to do anyway," Harry shrugged, "Besides, you never know what might happen with me outside of the actual walls of Hogwarts."

Malfoy slightly growled, and exited the Dining Hall – the opposite direction from the school grounds door, however.

Hermione stared after him, and then turned back to Harry with a questioning look.

"He'll meet up with us." He shrugged, "He got no choice."

Hermione looked at Harry with a confused expression. "Since when did Draco Malfoy became your…other half?"

Harry almost choked on his crouton then. "What?"

"Well," Hermione looked away slyly, "there's no other way to describe your relationship. You guys don't seem as simple as friends, but you're not distant like acquaintances either – more like you're close but not best friends close. So, I'm just going to have to assume that it's this special relationship."

Harry really did choked on his crouton then, and started coughing. "Hermione! No! Stop!" he put a hand on her shoulder, and pulled her in, while saying, "Don't even think that! I – Merlin, that thought is worse than facing Voldemort any day!"

Hermione started to uncontrollably laugh at this point. "So, you going to give me the down low on what's the deal between the two of you? When I see you, I see him. When you took care of the students, I see him not ten feet away. While you were walking outside my class, I saw him – not ten feet away on the other side. What's the deal?"

"Okay, okay," Harry shook his head, "I'll tell you what's really going on. Other than his job as a teacher, he also has to watch my back."

Hermione's eyes widened, "He's your bodyguard?"

"No!" Harry slightly pouted, "He just has to watch my back."

Hermione grinned, "He's your bodyguard then."

Harry groaned, "Merlin, I just told you – no, he is not my bodyguard!"

By the time class started, Hermione and Harry lazily walked towards the school grounds. Soon enough, they saw Draco leaning on a wall nearby on their way.

"Took you two long enough," he said sourly.

"No one asked you to wait for us," Hermione replied, "and it's not like I invited you anyway."

"Too bad Potter did," Draco folded his arms as he walked beside Harry, making him in the middle. "Like I want to go watch Grayhart teach when I can be sleeping."

"We're visiting her," Hermione corrected, "not watching her teach, and Harry and I can use this time to catch up."

"Oh, then am I getting in the way of your sentimental –"

"Okay," Harry cut in, "Why are you two getting so heated up over nothing? We're taking a stroll on the school grounds, and dropping by where Grayhart's teaching – that's it. Nothing more – maybe skip having a conversation with Grayhart –" he turned towards Hermione then, who shook her head, "then," he sighed, "that's all we're doing. You two need to grow up and not get into an argument each time you talk to one another." Harry shook his head, and walked ahead of the two.

Hermione and Draco stared after him for a bit before following him.

"He really doesn't want to go see Grayhart, huh?" Draco commented.

"Definitely," Hermione grinned, "makes me want him to interact with her even more though."

"Agreed."

By the time they got out to see Lenne and her class from a distance, they saw that she was explaining about the class and decided to stay where they were, otherwise, they'd, "undermine the teacher's authority over the class," as Hermione stated.

"What did you do while in New York?" Harry asked.

Hermione shrugged, "Got a job, school –"

"Of course," Draco added softly, but not so softly that they didn't hear.

"What job?" Harry cut in before Hermione can retaliate.

"Waitress at first," Hermione said, as she stared off into the landscape, "but then I started working as an intern for a small company, and moved on to bigger things from there. Before you ask though," Hermione grinned, "I met Lenne in college."

Harry nodded, "Close, close friends then, huh?"

"Definitely. If it weren't for the fact that we both like our space, and Lenne, especially, we'd be sharing a flat as well as working together," Hermione smiled, "We had a pretty rough start, but after going through a couple of things together, we're definitely, extremely close friends now."

Harry was silent for a moment, but Draco asked it for him.

"Closer than Potter here?"

Hermione turned to look Harry fully in the eye. "Yes." There was a long stretch of silence then, but then Hermione finally turned and saw that the kids were almost done with stretches. "Let's go visit Lenne now."

By the time they got to Lenne, she had already sent the kids off to run, and was sipping tea peacefully at her table. She conjured three more chairs, coffee, and some baked goods as well.

"I don't know what kind of drinks you two want," Lenne shrugged, "So, you're going to have to conjure up your own drink."

"Thank you," Hermione sipped at her coffee appreciatively.

"Here to see if I'm working the poor students to death?" Lenne sniggered. "Interesting, earl gray tea?" she turned towards Draco, who nodded, impressed.

"Depends," Harry replied, "are you?"

"He's here to visit you with me," Hermione explained, "and, so we can catch up on the way."

Lenne shrugged, "I honestly can care less why he's here, and it looks like you're a coffee lover too huh?"

"I can tolerate tea."

"Coffee doesn't usually get along with me," Lenne smiled almost sadly, "but as long as it doesn't get into my tea," Lenne shrugged, "I can live with it."

"So, you agree that coffee and tea shouldn't go together?" Harry suddenly added, coldly, after a pause. He looked at Hermione's cup of coffee as he said this, and turned towards Lenne.

"They shouldn't be mixed." Lenne corrected.

"But you wouldn't have tea and then have a sip of coffee, would you?"

"No, but I'd have a frappe chino."

"Coffee drinks and tea drinks both go great with boba," Hermione jumped in, and seeing the quizzical look on Harry's and Draco's face, "or baked goods. They're similar enough. Why can't they all just get along?"

"Why don't you guys stop referring to coffee and tea and call your points straight out," Draco rolled his eyes. "The students think we're crazy as it is. It's after lunch, and we're having tea and coffee with baked goods. You don't have this kind of soirée right after lunch."

"Soiree?" Harry laughed.

"He's right though," Lenne joined in, "You don't have drinks and baked goods like this right after lunch."

Hermione shook her head, and met Draco's eyes. The two silently agreed and got up. "Harry," she turned to him, as she started walking away besides Draco. "You know it's my choice to hang out, be close to, or anything for that matter, right?"

Harry sighed, and nodded.

"You know what would really make me happy?" she smiled. "If you two are like this while I'm here. That's all I ask. Just be cordial to each other at least. You don't have to like each other, nor question each other's place in my life."

Lenne at this point, shrugged, and shook her head, "Yeah, yeah, we get it. You're just making excuses to go off with Malfoy."

"Merlin, Hermione," Harry caught Lenne's winked before she went to deal with the kids that were done and were listening in on them, "if you wanted to snog him, just tell me and I'll make like a banana," he got up.

"Yo, Potter," Lenne called, "You wanna grill one of my students to see just exactly how much I make them run, or would you rather just look from here and you'll see the distance."

"I'll do both!" he called back, as he jogged over to Lenne.

Hermione just glared at the two as she made her way, not too far off with Draco.

Draco took a sidelong glance at her, "You know," he smirked, "if you wanted to snog me, you can just ask."

"No, Malfoy," she said, annoyed, "Go snog a broom."

A/N: WOOHOO I UPDATED! YAYYY

R/R PLEASE! SORRIE IT TOOK SO LONG

DISCLAIMER: NOT MY CHARS JUST LENNE

N oh yes, IT'S OFFICALLY LENNE GRAYHART! Thx for noticing and informing me. :D

THANK YOU FOR ALL THE REVIEWS TOO!! :D HUGS EVERYONE AND GIVES U ALL CANDY! … so what if they're old?...don't complain they're candy! Lmao jkjk :p


End file.
